2015 State of Marketing - Salesforce.com · The 2015 State of Marketing survey asked marketers...
Transcript of 2015 State of Marketing - Salesforce.com · The 2015 State of Marketing survey asked marketers...
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2015 STATE OF MARKETINGIn the fall of 2014, we surveyed thousands of marketers for our second annual State of Marketing report. We wanted to learn marketers’ top priorities for 2015 across all digital channels — and how their budgets, metrics, and strategies supported their goals.
With more than 5,000 responses, this report offers a data-centric look at the digital marketing landscape of 2015, as well as the increasing significance of the customer journey.
Executive Summary: GlobalFinding a Focus for 2015Ranking the Top ObstaclesBanking on Social and MobileUsing Technology to Craft the Customer JourneyEmail Keeps a High ProfileRaising the Stakes on Responsive DesignThe Year of Mobile Has Arrived — for Real This TimeSmall Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile Social Takes the Spotlight2015 RecommendationsExecutive Summaries by Country and Region Australia Brazil Canada France Germany Japan The Nordics United Kingdom United States Executive Summaries by Business Type B2B B2CSurvey Methodology and Demographics
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Table of Contents
2015 State of Marketing 2
The 2015 State of Marketing survey asked marketers about their budgets, priorities, channels, strategies, and metrics for 2015. Here’s a snapshot of key findings based on cumulative responses from marketers around the world. See executive summaries by country, region, and business type (B2B and B2C) beginning on p. 37 for more detailed data.
84% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 38% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Global
SOCIAL
MOBILE
66% of marketers believe social mediamarketing is core to their business
N=2986*
66% have a dedicated socialmedia team
64% believe social is a critical enablerof their products and services
42% rate social media tra�c as the mostimportant social marketing metric
71% of marketers believe mobilemarketing is core to their business
N=2306*
68% have integrated mobile marketinginto their overall marketing strategy
58% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
43% rate mobile website or app tra�c asthe most important mobile marketing metric
73% of marketers believe emailmarketing is core to their business
N=2397*
49% always/often use responsivedesign in emails
47% report click-through rate as themost important email marketing metric
23% don’t know what device emailsare read on
Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 New businessdevelopment #2 Quality of leads #3 Remaining up to date with current
marketing technology and trends
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social mediaadvertising
70%
Social mediamarketing
70%
Social mediaengagement
67%
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67%
Mobileapplications
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
57%
7%
Marketinganalytics
54%
66%
CRMtools
54%
67% 66%
2015 State of Marketing 3
2015 State of Marketing 4
Marketers in 2015 will have a record-high number of technologies, channels, and tactics to choose from. The first step toward a solid strategy is finding focus amid the noise, whether that noise is coming from a social network claiming to own the most valuable audience or a pundit declaring that the CMO is now the chief officer of something new.
With an ever-greater number of responsibilities and tactics to test, marketers must keep a tight focus on the metrics that not only matter to their business, but also can truly be influenced. We asked survey respondents to identify their top metrics for success in the new year, as shown in the following chart.
Revenue growth was the number-one metric for surveyed marketers. In The State of Marketing Leadership,1 a report on senior-level marketers published by LinkedIn and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, revenue growth was also named the top metric to gauge marketing success. Revenue growth will continue be the primary success metric that marketers use
in 2015, while customer satisfaction is a close second: 30% of marketers say that customer satisfaction is one of their top metrics.
The third most important metric was a tie between ROI, customer retention rates, and customer acquisition, demonstrating that 2015 focus will largely center on attracting customers and engaging them long-term.
With so many technologies demanding substantial time and effort, marketers must evaluate which tools will be most effective for their unique business goals. The chart on p. 5 shows a long list of potential channels and strategies to invest in and the percentage of marketers who currently use them. It also shows average ratings of that channel or strategy’s effectiveness and whether marketers who aren’t using it plan to do so in the next 12 months.
Finding a Focus for 2015
Top 5 Digital Marketing Metrics for Success
Revenue growth
32%30%
23% 23% 23%
Customer satisfaction Return on investment Customer retention rates Customer acquisition (i.e.,audience and/or list growth)
Increasingly, marketers are shifting attention from traditional metrics like conversion rates and return on investment to metrics that better reflect customer satisfaction.
1 The State of Marketing Leadership, Salesforce Marketing Cloud and LinkedIn, November 2014
2015 State of Marketing 5
Email marketing, social media advertising, and social media listening had the highest very effective/effective ratings. Meanwhile, blogging, display/banner ads, corporate website, and native advertising had the highest number of marketers saying they didn’t know whether they’d use them, showing a need for greater training and education around
these techniques. For recommendations on how to make the most of the digital marketing channels and strategies you choose to pilot and implement in 2015, flip to the “Recommendations” section on p. 30 of this report.
Finding a Focus for 2015
Popularity and E�ectiveness of Digital Marketing Channels and Strategies
56%
44%
44%
44%
42%
41%
40%
39%
38%
37%
35%
32%
31%
31%
29%
27%
27%
25%
24%
24%
22%
21%
20%
19%
18%
15%
Corporate website
Social media engagement
Social media marketing
SEO/SEM
Landing pages
Email marketing
Display/banner ads
Social media advertising
Blogging
Social media listening
Videos
Native advertising
Web personalization
Content marketing
Recommendations via email
Data targeting and segmentation
Mobile application(s)
Guided selling
Mobile text messaging (SMS)
Video advertising
Marketing automation
O er management
Lead nurturing and scoring
Mobile push notifications
Location-based mobile tracking
Podcasting
26%
27%
29%
31%
31%
27%
30%
29%
31%
30%
29%
30%
36%
32%
31%
34%
34%
32%
31%
31%
34%
31%
34%
34%
32%
30%0% 100%
Piloting/Planto Use in Next
12 MonthsCurrently
Using
64% 25% 10%
67% 22% 10%
66% 23% 9%
66% 25% 7%
66% 24% 8%
68% 23% 8%
68% 22% 8%
68% 21% 9%
61% 27% 9%
58% 28% 9%
66%
66%
62%
25% 8%
26%
27%
6%
9%
65% 26% 7%
65% 24% 8%
67% 24% 7%
65% 24% 8%
64% 25% 8%
67% 23% 7%
64% 24% 8%
66% 24% 8%
66% 25% 6%
67% 25% 7%
62% 28% 8%
59% 29% 10%
58% 27% 13%Very e ective/e ectiveSomewhat e ectiveNot very e ective/not at all e ectiveDon’t know
20% 40% 60% 80%
2015 State of Marketing 6
Digital channels can have long-lasting impact on ROI and audience growth, and an ever-greater number of marketers understand that nurturing the customer journey is crucial to growing a business (see the section “Using Technology to Craft the Customer Journey”). But with so many barriers to attracting consumer attention and a long list of responsibilities on marketers’ plates, reaching this ideal state of customer satisfaction and business success can be highly challenging. As part of this survey, we asked marketers to share the top challenges that they face while executing their marketing strategy.
Last year, our report asked about business challenges primarily in the context of email lifecycle marketing. This year, we expanded our focus to include business challenges that encompassed the entire customer journey, as shown in the following chart. We first asked marketers to select all of their most pressing business challenges from the list. Of the business challenges they selected, we then asked them to rank their top three business challenges, which are reflected in the rankings on the right side of the chart.
Ranking the Top Obstacles
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
9
6
11
7
8
13
10
16
19
12
17
15
18
14
20
27%
27%
27%
26%
25%
25%
23%
23%
22%
22%
22%
21%
21%
21%
20%
20%
19%
18%
18%
1%
New business development
Quality of leads
Remaining up to date with current marketing technology and trends
Customer acquisition
Quantifying marketing's return on investment
Integration of marketing tools/systems
Demand and lead generation
Budgetary constraints
Building deep customer relationships
Creating a personalized cross-channel experience
Producing unique, original content
Using existing data to drive more relevant messages and experiences
Keeping pace with competitors
Staying ahead of social media trends
Talent acquisition and retention
Understanding what data to analyze
Shifting consumer demographics
Channel expansion and device adoption
Enterprise-level system optimization
Other
Most Pressing Business Challenges
2015 State of Marketing 7
Three challenges tied for first place: new business development, quality of leads, and remaining up to date with current marketing technology and trends. Interestingly, challenges like budgetary constraints and uniqueness of content weren’t among the most common challenges for marketers, indicating that marketing resources aren’t necessarily strapped — it’s more about filling the funnel with quality instead of quantity.
The challenge of staying updated with current technology and trends also makes sense as a top obstacle. Senior marketing leaders today
report a growing responsibility to teach their teams how to perform new functions and develop their marketing technology skills.
It’s clear that marketers come up against a variety of challenging obstacles both internally at their companies (as in the case of quantifying marketing’s ROI) and externally with their audiences (as with customer acquisition). See the recommendations at the end of this report for guidance on how to improve marketing results amid these challenges.
Ranking the Top Obstacles
The biggest challenges of 2015 are new business development, quality of leads, and remaining up to date with current marketing technology and trends.
2015 State of Marketing 8
On average, 84% of respondents plan to increase or maintain their spend on marketing activities and technology in 2015. Marketers in the US plan to increase or maintain spend at the lowest rate of countries and regions surveyed (80%). The top spenders are Canadian and Brazilian marketers: 96% plan to increase or maintain their spend.
Take a look at the percentage of marketers in each country that plan to increase or maintain their overall marketing spend in 2015.
Banking on Social and Mobile
80%N=3002
US
96% 96% 81% 85% 88% 90% 90% 94%N=250 N=430 N=251 N=252 N=250 N=251 N=253 N=114
Canada Brazil Japan Australia UK Germany France Nordics
N=3002 N=250 N=430 N=251 N=252 N=250 N=251 N=253 N=114
Social mediaadvertising
70%
Social mediamarketing
70%
Social mediaengagement
67%
Location-basedmobile tracking
67%
Mobileapplications
66%
Now that we understand who’s planning to spend at higher rates, how will marketers use those larger budgets? One emerging area is online advertising. Surveyed marketers said they planned to shift 38% of their marketing spend from traditional advertising to digital advertising in 2015. B2C marketers plan to shift spend at a slightly higher rate, with 42% of B2C marketers planning to move traditional budget into digital vs. 34% of B2B marketers.
Marketers plan to spend more money on these five key areas in 2015 (percentages represent marketers who plan to increase spend on that activity).
2015 State of Marketing 9
These statistics point to 2015 as the year when marketers will truly bank on social and mobile. Contrast these five areas with those from our 2014 State of Marketing report: data and analytics, marketing automation, email marketing, social media marketing, and content management, respectively, were the top five areas in which marketers planned to increase spend in 2014. Last year’s results indicated that marketers were attempting a far-reaching focus on many areas of digital marketing, while marketers this year seem to be carefully choosing social and mobile as pillars in their strategy.
This decision to invest more financial resources in social and mobile makes sense, as 64% of marketers see social media marketing as a critical enabler of products and services and 70% see mobile marketing as a critical enabler of products and services. As customers increasingly switch between devices and expect brands to create real-time one-to-one connections, these increased social and mobile spends will help marketers take customers on a journey.
The goal of modern marketing is to elevate the customer experience across every channel. Marketers are now able to extend the customer journey in a powerful new way inside apps and across devices, creating personal brand experiences for every interaction with every customer.
Banking on Social and Mobile
64% of marketers see social media marketing as a critical enabler of products and services and 70% see mobile marketing as a critical enabler of products and services.
Why Is Mobile Marketing Core to Your Business?
16% 70% 15%
Our business’ primary revenue source is directly linked to mobile marketingMobile marketing is a critical enabler of our products and servicesMobile marketing indirectly impacts our business performance
Why Is Social Media Marketing Core to Your Business?
16% 64% 19%
Our business’ primary revenue source is directly linked to social media marketingSocial media marketing is a critical enabler of our products and servicesSocial media marketing indirectly impacts our business performance
2015 State of Marketing 10
This chart provides a more detailed look at how marketers plan to spend money on various digital marketing technologies, and whether the amount spent will increase or decrease — with social and mobile leading the way.
Banking on Social and Mobile
70%
70%
67%
67%
66%
65%
64%
63%
63%
62%
62%
61%
61%
60%
60%
60%
59%
59%
59%
58%
56%
56%
56%
54%
53%
51%
24%
25%
27%
27%
27%
30%
29%
29%
31%
30%
32%
31%
32%
32%
32%
32%
32%
35%
33%
34%
38%
37%
37%
34%
36%
40%
3%
2%
3%
4%
3%
3%
3%
4%
3%
3%
3%
4%
3%
5%
4%
5%
5%
3%
4%
5%
3%
4%
4%
7%
6%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Social media advertising
Social media marketing
Social media engagement
Location-based mobile tracking
Mobile application(s)
Mobile push notifications
Web personalization
Marketing automation
Social media listening
Content marketing
SEO/SEM
Video advertising
Guided selling
Videos
Display/banner ads
Podcasting
Email marketing
Lead nurturing and scoring
Mobile text messaging (SMS)
Corporate website
Landing pages
Blogging
Native advertising
O�er management
Recommendations via email
Increase substantially/increase somewhat Stay about the same Decrease somewhat/decrease substantially Don't know
Areas of Increase and Decrease in 2015 Budget
Data targeting and segmentation
2015 State of Marketing 11
Using Technology to Craft the Customer JourneyFor the past 10 years, digital channels and data points have been accumulating at breakneck speed. Every industry has been disrupted. The customer now rules, and speed is the new currency of business. Marketers have scarcely had a moment to make sense of it all with a single big idea that ties everything together. Enter the customer journey. A growing number of marketers today are envisioning their entire marketing strategy under the umbrella of a cohesive customer journey, which we define as all of the interactions a customer has with brands, products, or services across all touchpoints and channels.
According to recent research, 86% of senior-level marketers say that it’s absolutely critical or very important to create a cohesive customer journey. Another 11% view the customer journey as moderately
important.2 Technology is the essential glue that connects various moments along the customer journey to create one-to-one experiences. From analytics that help marketers create personalized interactions, to mobile applications that create personal brand experiences for every interaction, to CRM tools that let marketers track the span of a customer relationship, the customer journey relies completely on its technological elements.
The following chart shows which technologies marketers find most effective at creating a cohesive customer journey. The left column shows the percentage of marketers that rate that technology absolutely critical/very important to the customer journey.
Absolutely Critical/ Very Important
57%
54%
54%
51%
44%
42%
41%
40%
40%
37%
50%
46%
45%
45%
41%
39%
39%
41%
43%
42%
27%
30%
29%
31%
29%
27%
32%
30%
29%
28%
22%
23%
24%
23%
28%
31%
27%
27%
26%
27%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Mobile applications
Marketing analytics
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools
Content management
Marketing automation
Predictive intelligence
Collaboration tools
Social listening tools
Social publishing tools
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
Very e ective/e ective Somewhat e ective Not very e ective/not at all e ective Don't know
The E�ectiveness of Various Technologies at Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
2 The State of Marketing Leadership, Salesforce Marketing Cloud and LinkedIn, November 2014
2015 State of Marketing 12
Using Technology to Craft the Customer Journey
The three technologies rated as most critical and important to the customer journey were mobile applications, marketing analytics, and CRM tools. The best-rated technologies varied widely in their functionalities, from content management to social listening tools, demonstrating that customer journey touchpoints can transpire
anywhere and require specialized attention to meet customer needs. Consult the recommendations at the end of this report for specific suggestions on mapping and optimizing your customer journey.
86% of senior-level marketers say that it’s absolutely critical or very important to create a cohesive customer journey.
Technologies Rated as Most Critical and Important to the Customer Journey
#1 Mobile applications #2 Marketing analytics #3 Customer relationship management (CRM) tools
2015 State of Marketing 13
Email is an integral touchpoint along the customer journey for the majority of marketers: 73% agree that email marketing is core to their business. We see that email’s importance is on the rise when comparing 2014 to 2015 responses to the question, “Why is email core to your business?” Sixty percent of marketers in the 2015 survey said that email is a critical enabler of products and services vs. 42% of marketers in 2014.
Email’s growing importance coincides with the increased popularity of smartphones, which offer consumers a constant inbox in their pocket. One-third of marketers said their subscribers read emails on mobile devices at least 50% of the time. (See the next section for more on mobile email trends.) Fifty-nine percent of marketers plan on increasing their email marketing budgets in 2015, hoping to give subscribers more email content and a better experience on their mobile devices.
Email Keeps a High Profile
2015 vs. 2014: Why Is Email Core to Your Business?
60%
20%
20%
2015
Email indirectly impacts our business performance
Our business' primary revenue source is directly linked to email operations
Email is a critical enabler of our products and services
42%
16%
42%
2014
Email is an integral touchpoint along the customer journey for the majority of marketers: 73% agree that email marketing is core to their business.
2015 State of Marketing 14
Is Email Marketing Producing ROI? Email Team Size
Annual Send Volume
92%
Produces significant ROI
Produces some ROI
Will eventually produce ROI
Indirectly produces ROI
74%
21%
32%
20%
18%
3% 5%
Not likely to produce ROIUnsure
1 person2-3 people4-5 people6 or more people
43%
23%
17% 17%
2014
32%
19%
12%
13%
7%
5%
3%
3%
6%
NA
26%
14%
11%
11%
8%
8%
4%
3%
6%
9%
Less than 100,000
100,000-499,999
500,000-less than 1 million
1 million-less than 5 million
5 million-less than 10 million
10 million-less than 25 million
25 million-less than 50 million
50 million-less than 100 million
More than 100 million
Don't know
Email Keeps a High Profile
To support more ambitious email efforts, email marketing teams are getting bigger, as revealed in the chart “Email Team Size.” The following charts depict the current email marketing landscape, from ROI to annual send volume.
152015 State of Marketing
We asked marketers to share which email campaigns they use and how effective they find these campaigns. Newsletters are used most often; however, they rank lower for overall effectiveness. Conversely, mobile opt-in campaigns are rated the most effective, but are not widely used. Looking for ways to create and measure better email campaigns based on this data? See the recommendations on email at the end of this report.
Metrics Used to Measure Email Marketing Success47%
43% 38%
34% 34%
23% 21% 17%
13%
2%
Click-through rate
Conversion rate
Click-to-open rate
Unique open rate
Lead generation
Unsubscribe rate
List growth rate
Bouncerate
Inactive user rate
Other
Email Keeps a High Profile
Currently Using
Piloting/ Plan to Use in Next 12 Months
63% 22%54% 23%42% 29%40% 27%38% 28%38% 22%36% 28%34% 33%30% 31%28% 30%27% 24%26% 23%26% 30%24% 30%24% 22%
66%
69%
72%
64%
67%
74%
72%
63%
67%
64%
75%
74%
76%
73%
72%
26%
23%
21%
25%
25%
18%
21%
26%
23%
26%
17%
18%
17%
20%
20%
7%
6%
5%
8%
6%
6%
5%
9%
7%
8%
6%
7%
6%
5%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Newsletter Promotional content
Welcome series Web opt-in
Post-purchase Transactional
Loyalty Reengagement
Social opt-in Win-back Birthday
Anniversary Mobile opt-in
Browse retargeting Abandoned cart
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
Usage Rates of Email Marketing Campaigns and Their E�ectiveness
Email Keeps a High Profile
66%
58%
57%
55%
58%
53%
54%
52%
53%
59%
25%
28%
29%
29%
28%
28%
27%
30%
31%
27%
8%
11%
12%
14%
11%
15%
17%
15%
12%
12%
Email content and design
Campaign management
Contact management
Data and analysis
Quality control
Device friendliness
Responsive design
Integration
Support
Templates
Absolutely Critical/
Very Important
79%
74%
74%
73%
71%
69%
68%
62%
58%
58%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
The Importance and E�ectiveness of Email Features
162015 State of Marketing
2015 State of Marketing 17
If you’ve been paying attention to your email analytics lately, you don’t need convincing that mobile email is now the rule — not the exception. Take a glimpse of the state of mobile email:
• 72% of US online adults send or receive personal emails via smartphone at least weekly.3
• Nine countries likely surpassed 50% mobile penetration in 2014.4
• Responsive design can lead to a 130% increase in email clicks.5
2015 State of Marketing survey respondents confirmed the mobile email trend, as we tracked substantial growth from last year to this year in the number of subscribers who read emails on mobile devices. This year, 33% of marketers said their emails are read on a mobile device at least 50% of the time; last year, it was 24%.
Note on charts below: due to rounding, totals don’t equal 100%. In 2014, we didn’t provide a “don’t know” option on this question.
Raising the Stakes on Responsive Design
Volume of Subscriber Emails Read on a Mobile Device
35%
22%
41%
22%
19%
16%
4%
11%
1%
3% 1% 23%
2014
2015
Less than 30% 30-49% 50-69% 70-74%
75-89% 90% or more Don't know
3 Brief: Email Marketing Gets Responsive, Forrester, May 2014 4 Worldwide Smartphone Usage to Grow 25% in 2014, eMarketer, June 2014 5 Responsive Design A/B Testing Leads to a 130% Increase in Clicks, Litmus, November 2014
2015 State of Marketing 18
Raising the Stakes on Responsive Design
7%
12% 27%
12%
15%
20%
22%
29%
18%
19% 17%
2015 2014
9%
13% 22%
13% 15%
19% 22%
28% 19%
18% 21%
2015 2014
Emails Landing Pages
Usage Rates of Mobile Responsive Design
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
Don’t know
Another area of growth in 2014 was the number of marketers who currently use responsive design in emails and landing pages. In our 2014 research, 42% rarely or never used responsive design in emails; this year, only 24% of marketers use it rarely or never. Additionally, 46% of marketers report using responsive design in landing pages often/always in 2015, compared to 40% in 2014.
Sixty-eight percent of marketers view responsive design as absolutely critical/very important to building email marketing campaigns — a sign that marketers are listening to the analytics and understanding that the mobile inbox is mission-critical. Yet 17% relate that they’re still struggling
to effectively design responsive emails. If you’re among that 17%, make it a priority in 2015 to not only appreciate the importance of responsive design, but also become highly effective at implementing it.
You can get the ball rolling by providing your designers with educational resources to help them learn. You may also consider hiring a temporary designer who’s skilled in this area to show your team the ropes. Read our email recommendations at the end of this report for more ideas on responsive design implementation.
2015 State of Marketing 19
Last year, a Forbes article declared 2014 “the third annual year of mobile.”6 Marketers cry “mobile” like the boy who cried “wolf,” but this year, it’s looking like the real thing. For starters, 46% of marketers surveyed are using some form of mobile marketing — either SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location-based functionality — compared to only 23% in our 2014 report.
Marketers are shifting their focus to deliver more tailored, one-to-one mobile interactions. Fifty-eight percent of marketers have a dedicated team to manage their company’s mobile marketing program, up from 35% in 2014. Seventy percent of marketers using mobile say it’s a critical enabler of products or services, a 13% jump from last year. With smartphones quickly becoming the number-one Web access device, every touchpoint along the customer journey must be planned with a mobile-first mindset.
The Year of Mobile Has Arrived — for Real This Time
Mobile Marketing Impact on Business
16% 70% 15% 2015
2014 Mobile marketing indirectly impacts our business performance Mobile marketing is a critical enabler of our products and services Our business' primary revenue source is linked to mobile marketing
14% 57% 29%
Mobile Marketing Return on Investment
90%
64%
Produces significant ROI
Produces some ROI
Not likely to produce ROIUnsure
Will eventually produce ROI
Indirectly produces ROI
9%
22%
33%
26%
4%
6%
1 person2-3 people4-5 people6 or more people
Mobile Marketing Team Size
39%
41%
13% 7%
6http://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/02/06/is-2014-finally-the-year-of-mobile/
2015 State of Marketing 20
The Year of Mobile Has Arrived — for Real This Time
With this rise in mobile activity, how are marketers actually using the channel? Mobile loyalty campaigns are the most widely used and the most effective type of mobile campaign, as ranked by marketers.
Overall, a majority of marketers using mobile rated all campaign types as highly effective, further supporting mobile’s crucial position in marketing strategy.
Currently Using
Piloting/ Plan to Use in Next 12
Months
37% 36%
36% 36%
36% 35%
35% 36%
35% 38%
33% 35%
33% 38%
33% 35%
32% 36%
86%
83%
83%
84%
83%
85%
84%
85%
85%
12%
14%
15%
12%
13%
12%
14%
13%
11%
2%
2%
1%
2%
2%
2%
1%
2%
3%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Loyalty
Holiday or event campaign
Promoting email subscription via SMS
Mobile welcome SMS
Drive cross-channel engagement
Mobile-exclusive deals
Reengagement
Win-back
Conversation via keyword
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
Mobile Campaign Popularity and E�ectiveness
43% 39%
37% 35% 35% 35% 28% 28%
1%
Mobile website or app tra c
Conversionrate
Leadgeneration
Volume of mobile phone
interactions
Overall brand awareness/preference
Revenue directly attributed to mobile device transactions
Mobile app ratings
Number of SMS/ push notification
opt-ins
Other
Metrics for Measuring Mobile Marketing Success
2015 State of Marketing 21
By and large, marketers measure mobile marketing success by mobile website or app traffic. In this research, we see that 27% of marketers have a mobile application, with support for Android slightly edging out
iOS support (79% and 77%, respectively), as shown in the following chart. Another 34% of marketers are piloting or planning to create a mobile application in the next 12 months.
From our 2014 Mobile Behavior Report,7 we know that 76% of smartphone users agree that location sharing provides more meaningful content, and 73% believe location sharing is somewhat or very useful. Among smartphone and tablet owners, 79% have allowed location sharing when using an app and 70% allowed push notifications. Despite this interest from the consumer side, marketers
have just started dipping a toe into the geolocation pool: only 18% currently use location-based functionality in their marketing. Because location-based marketing is still in the early stages of adoption, and because it can be a disruptive form of communication (for better or worse), marketers are approaching with care.
The Year of Mobile Has Arrived — for Real This Time
YesNoDon’t know
Marketers Tracking Mobile App Analytics
69%
13% 7%
23%
8%
79% 77%
39%
20%
2%
Android iOS Windows Blackberry Other
Mobile App Support for Operating Systems
67% 25% 7%
Very e�ective/e�ective at usingSomewhat e�ective at using
Piloting Planningto use in next 12 months
Substantially/somewhatincrease spending in 2015
Marketers Using Location-Based Tracking
18%
32% 67%
7Mobile Behavior Report, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, February 2014
2015 State of Marketing 22
A successful customer journey requires integrating mobile into your marketing strategy. Among marketers using mobile channels, 68% have integrated mobile marketing into their overall strategy — meaning they’ve incorporated either SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location-based functionality. Sixty-one percent rate the integration as very effective or effective (compared to 46% last year) and 32% rate it as somewhat effective.
When we look at the top challenges of B2C marketers, the difference between the mobile integration “haves” and “have-nots” paints a clear
picture. Those who haven’t integrated mobile cite their number-one challenge as creating a personalized cross-channel experience (one-to-one customer journey). For those who have integrated mobile, this concern isn’t even listed in the top five challenges. In other words, integrating mobile is a major step to delivering the personalized brand experiences that customers expect today. As it stands, B2C companies are far more likely than B2B companies to have integrated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy. See more detailed B2B and B2C data on p. 47.
Small Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile
Have You Integrated Mobile Marketing Into YourOverall Marketing Strategy?
2015 vs. 2014 B2B vs. B2C
68%
49%
28%
40%
4% 11%
2015 2014
Don't know No Yes Don't know No Yes
53%
77%
41%
21%
6% 3%
B2B B2C
E�ectiveness of MobileMarketing Integration
61%
32%
6%
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ectiveSomewhat e�ective
2015 State of Marketing 23
Marketers who have integrated mobile with their overall marketing approach see significant increases in marketing effectiveness. As marketers integrate mobile into their overall marketing strategy, the volume of mobile sales dramatically increases. In terms of sales occurring on mobile devices, nearly twice as many of those who have integrated mobile see 6% or more in mobile sales (79% of mobile integrated vs. 46% of not mobile integrated).
Small Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile
How Mobile Integration A�ects Marketers’ Challenges
Total
1
2
3
B2B B2CIntegrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated
Creating a personalizedcross-channel experience
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Quality of leads
New business development
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Customer acquisition(audience and/or list growth)
New business development
Demand and lead generation
Quality of leads
New business development New business development
Quality of leads
Enterprise-levelsystem optimization
New business development
Quantifying marketing’s returnon investment
Enterprise-levelsystem optimization
How Mobile Integration A�ects Marketers’ Challenges
Total
1
2
3
B2B B2CIntegrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated
Creating a personalizedcross-channel experience
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Quality of leads
New business development
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Remaining up to date withcurrent marketing technologies
Customer acquisition(audience and/or list growth)
New business development
Demand and lead generation
Quality of leads
New business development New business development
Quality of leads
Enterprise-levelsystem optimization
New business development
Quantifying marketing’s returnon investment
Enterprise-levelsystem optimization
Percentage of Sales Occurring on Mobile Device by Mobile Integration
5%
21%
10%
26%
3%
16% 9%
14%
10%
12%
8%
17%
47% 15%
28%
10% 55%
21%
20%
11% 26%
8%
17%
15%
13%
20%
18%
27%
11%
12%
6%
19% 8%
18%
6%
20%
Integrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated Integrated Not integrated
Total B2B B2C
1% or less 2-5%
6-10% 11-15%
2-5%
6-10% 11-15%
2-5%
6-10% 11-15%
More than 15% Don’t know/not applicable
1% or less
More than 15% Don’t know/not applicable
1% or less
More than 15% Don’t know/not applicable
2015 State of Marketing 24
As mobile impacts sales, it also impacts spending on marketing activities. Marketers who have integrated mobile are shifting more of their marketing spend from traditional advertising to digital channels like mobile app ads, social ads, and display ads. Additionally, the total spend dramatically increases as marketers integrate their mobile marketing; this is perhaps a cyclical trend, where increased ROI from mobile integration fuels increased spending, so on and so forth. Among marketers who have fully integrated mobile, 84% are increasing their total digital spend substantially/somewhat, compared to 66% for those who haven’t integrated mobile.
A rising tide lifts all ships — and this tide is mobile integration. Marketers who have committed to mobile integration rate all implemented technologies — from CRM to social listening tools — as more effective across the board. This pattern further supports the idea that mobile can’t be treated as an isolated channel, but rather as a key component of the customer journey and enabler of other channels. Similarly, as marketers integrate mobile into their overall strategy, effectiveness of individual channels also rises, as seen in the chart on p. 25. In short, when mobile is integrated, all marketing technologies and channels become more effective.
Small Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile
Marketers Shifting from Traditional Advertising to Digital Channels by Mobile Integration
Integrated
TotalNot Integrated Integrated Not Integrated
B2BIntegrated Not Integrated
B2C
Marketers Increasing Total Digital Spend Substantially/Somewhat by Mobile Integration
43% 30% 45% 31% 42% 30%
Integrated
TotalNot Integrated Integrated Not Integrated
B2BIntegrated Not Integrated
B2C
67% 67% 67% 67% 67% 67%
84% 66% 81% 71% 86% 61%
2015 State of Marketing 25
Small Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile
73% 74% 73% 72% 68% 68% 67% 70% 72% 72%
43% 49% 47% 46%
40% 37% 38% 40% 44% 42%
Mobile applications
Marketing analytics
Customer relationship
management (CRM) tools
Content management
Marketing automation
Predictive intelligence
Collaboration tools
Social listening tools
Social publishing tools
Enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software
Integrated
Not integrated
69% 72% 72% 70% 66% 65% 69% 67% 71% 68%
46% 55% 54% 52%
44% 41% 46% 46% 48% 46%
Mobile applications
Marketing analytics
Customer relationship
management (CRM) tools
Content management
Marketing automation
Predictive intelligence
Collaboration tools
Social listening tools
Social publishing tools
Enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software
Integrated
Not integrated
74% 75% 73% 72% 69% 70% 67% 71% 72% 73%
40% 42% 37% 40%
35% 32% 27%
32% 38% 38%
Mobile applications
Marketing analytics
Customer relationship
management (CRM) tools
Content management
Marketing automation
Predictive intelligence
Collaboration tools
Social listening tools
Social publishing tools
Enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software
Integrated
Not integrated
Total
Technologies Rated Very E�ective/E�ective by Marketers, Mobile-Integrated vs. Not Integrated
B2B
B2C
2015 State of Marketing 26
Small Screen, Big Impact: Integrating Mobile
Marketers Who Have DedicatedDigital Teams by Channel
N=827 N=521
78% 42%
MOBILE
N=1562 N=650
79% 14%
SOCIAL
N=1398 N=515
86% 38%
Integrated Not Integrated
Integrated Not Integrated
Integrated Not Integrated
E�ectiveness of Channels and Strategies, Mobile-Integrated vs. Not Integrated
Not Integrated Integrated
79%
82%
83%
82%
78%
74%
76%
82%
77%
83%
72%
75%
78%
75%
71%
73%
75%
79%
73%
70%
72%
71%
73%
72%
72%
69%
17%
12%
12%
15%
18%
20%
18%
13%
18%
13%
20%
22%
19%
20%
22%
21%
19%
17%
21%
23%
23%
20%
20%
23%
22%
25%
4%
5%
4%
3%
3%
5%
5%
3%
5%
3%
6%
2%
2%
4%
6%
5%
4%
3%
5%
6%
4%
7%
5%
6%
5%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Corporate website
Social media engagement
Social media marketing
SEO/SEM
Landing pages
Email marketing
Display/banner ads
Social media advertising
Blogging
Social media listening
Videos
Native advertising
Web personalization
Content marketing
Recommendations via email
Data targeting and segmentation
Mobile application(s)
Guided selling
Mobile text (SMS) messaging
Video advertising
Marketing automation
O�er management
Lead nurturing and scoring
Mobile push notifications
Location-based mobile tracking
Podcasting
66%
65%
58%
65%
67%
67%
53%
61%
55%
61%
56%
54%
63%
66%
66%
67%
46%
66%
50%
63%
74%
64%
72%
48%
50%
60%
23%
23%
28%
28%
24%
25%
33%
28%
29%
26%
31%
34%
27%
27%
25%
24%
34%
27%
34%
23%
18%
28%
20%
31%
34%
25%
9%
11%
13%
6%
8%
8%
13%
10%
14%
11%
11%
7%
7%
5%
8%
7%
16%
4%
14%
9%
7%
5%
7%
15%
12%
12%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
E�ectiveness of Channels and Strategies, Mobile-Integrated vs. Not Integrated
Not Integrated Integrated
79%
82%
83%
82%
78%
74%
76%
82%
77%
83%
72%
75%
78%
75%
71%
73%
75%
79%
73%
70%
72%
71%
73%
72%
72%
69%
17%
12%
12%
15%
18%
20%
18%
13%
18%
13%
20%
22%
19%
20%
22%
21%
19%
17%
21%
23%
23%
20%
20%
23%
22%
25%
4%
5%
4%
3%
3%
5%
5%
3%
5%
3%
6%
2%
2%
4%
6%
5%
4%
3%
5%
6%
4%
7%
5%
6%
5%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Corporate website
Social media engagement
Social media marketing
SEO/SEM
Landing pages
Email marketing
Display/banner ads
Social media advertising
Blogging
Social media listening
Videos
Native advertising
Web personalization
Content marketing
Recommendations via email
Data targeting and segmentation
Mobile application(s)
Guided selling
Mobile text (SMS) messaging
Video advertising
Marketing automation
O�er management
Lead nurturing and scoring
Mobile push notifications
Location-based mobile tracking
Podcasting
66%
65%
58%
65%
67%
67%
53%
61%
55%
61%
56%
54%
63%
66%
66%
67%
46%
66%
50%
63%
74%
64%
72%
48%
50%
60%
23%
23%
28%
28%
24%
25%
33%
28%
29%
26%
31%
34%
27%
27%
25%
24%
34%
27%
34%
23%
18%
28%
20%
31%
34%
25%
9%
11%
13%
6%
8%
8%
13%
10%
14%
11%
11%
7%
7%
5%
8%
7%
16%
4%
14%
9%
7%
5%
7%
15%
12%
12%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
Don't know
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
2015 State of Marketing 27
In the last year, social media marketing has graduated from understudy to headliner, and the numbers prove it:
• While 25% of marketers in 2014 saw social as a critical enabler of products and services, that number leaps to 64% in this year’s research.
• Sixty-six percent of marketers agree that social media marketing is core to their business.
• In 2015, nearly twice as many marketers categorize social as a primary revenue source vs. 2014.
As such, social budgets are on the rise. Marketers are increasing their budgets for social more than any other digital marketing channel in 2015. Sixty-six percent of marketers now have a dedicated team to manage their company’s social media marketing programs, a 9% increase from 2014. The size of those teams is substantially increasing as well, as indicated in the chart below.
Social Takes the Spotlight
Social Media Marketing Return on Investment
86%
55%
9%
20%
27%
30%
8%
7%
Not likely to produce ROI
Unsure
Produces significant ROI
Produces some ROI
Will eventually produce ROI
Indirectly produces ROI
1 person2-3 people4-5 people6 or more people
Social Media Marketing Team Size
30%
10% 17%
43%
Social Media Marketing Impact on Business
2015
2014 Social media marketing indirectly impacts our business performance Social media marketing is a critical enabler of our products and services Our business' primary revenue source is linked to social media marketing
16%
9%
64%
25%
19%
66%
2015 State of Marketing 28
Facebook continues to be the most popular social channel for marketers to engage customers around the world. Marketers are also seeing great success with newer social channels such as Tagged, a social discovery website that reports 300 million members, and Viadeo, a social network
geared toward professionals with 65 million members. For all the talk about Pinterest, this channel scored relatively low in current usage (24% use Pinterest for marketing), with only 57% of marketers ranking it as very effective/effective.
Social Takes the Spotlight
Marketers are increasing their budgets for social more than any other digital marketing channel.
Currently Using
Piloting/ Plan to Use in Next 12 Months
80% 12%
70% 18%
62% 22%
56% 20%
56% 25%
34% 26%
34% 29%
27% 21%
24% 25%
23% 23%
20% 30%
20% 25%
19% 23%
19% 24%
19% 26%
17% 23%
16% 28%
15% 21%
14% 21%
13% 24%
11% 23%
11% 22%
8% 27%
73%
68%
69%
69%
68%
71%
67%
81%
57%
86%
68%
69%
77%
68%
68%
76%
71%
67%
77%
73%
78%
81%
76%
19%
22%
21%
16%
24%
22%
23%
14%
28%
11%
26%
22%
18%
23%
24%
19%
24%
22%
19%
21%
18%
17%
21%
8%
10%
10%
14%
8%
7%
10%
5%
15%
3%
6%
9%
6%
9%
8%
5%
5%
12%
4%
6%
4%
3%
4%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Google+
YouTube
Blogging
Video
Tagged
Podcasts
Flickr
Other Messaging Apps
SlideShare
MySpace
Vine
Foursquare
Snapchat
Line
KakaoTalk
Mobage
Very e�ective/e�ective
Not very e�ective/not at all e�ective
Somewhat e�ective
Social Media Networking Channels Being Used and Their E�ectiveness
Social Takes the Spotlight
42% 40% 35% 34% 31% 30% 28% 28% 27% 24% 23% 23%
1%
Social media tra c
Audience engagement
Audience growth rate
Overall brand awareness / preference
Lead generation
Visitor frequency
Conversion rate
Content quality & relevance
Measuring sentiment
Revenue directly
attributed to SM
Organic vs. paid reach
Share of voice
Other
Metrics Used to Measure Social Media Marketing Success
292015 State of Marketing
Recommendations
2015 State of Marketing 31
2015 RecommendationsThis year’s State of Marketing research makes it clear that marketers view digital channels as critical enablers of their companies’ products and services, and many of these channels are now core to business functions. If you’d like to make this report’s data more actionable in your 2015 strategy, consider these recommendations.
Be aware of these key differences between marketing in 2014 and 2015.
• Last year, the top areas in which marketers planned to increase spend were scattered across multiple disciplines. In 2015, the top five areas all relate to social and mobile channels. Make 2015 the year that your social media and mobile marketing activities mature into powerful customer journey touchpoints.
• Email marketing should be integral to your campaigns this year. Sixty percent of marketers in 2015 said that email is a critical enabler of products and services vs. 42% of marketers in 2014.
• In our 2014 research, 42% of respondents rarely or never used responsive design in emails. This year, only 24% of marketers used responsive design rarely or never. Small-screen friendliness must become part of every visual element in your marketing strategy.
• Mobile integration should also be a key focus. The “Small Screen, Big Impact” section shares compelling evidence that mobile integration is an all-around win: marketers who have integrated mobile (68% in 2015 vs. 49% in 2014) report all other marketing technologies and marketing channels as more effective.
Make every experience mobile.
• The number-one most pressing business challenge for today’s marketer is new business development. Where is that new business hiding? On smartphones and tablets, which are increasingly responsible for a bigger portion of all time spent online.
• Landing pages, your corporate website, an app, social media, and especially email — all of these are opportunities to offer customers a fully optimized, accessible mobile experience.
Invest in advertising strategically.
• More than ever, the time has come to evaluate the money you’re spending on offline advertising with indefinable results. This year, 38% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
• Seventy percent of marketers plan to invest more money in social media advertising next year, making it the number-one area in which they plan to invest more budget (tied with social media marketing). Realize that spending more money on social media won’t work if your social presence is negligent or too self-promotional, so advertising and organic content must work in tandem.
2015 State of Marketing 32
2015 Recommendations: EmailEvaluate email’s role in the customer journey.
• Subscribers keep their inboxes close, whether in their pocket or an always-open browser tab. Email can guide subscribers through many stages of the customer journey, but first evaluate the journey you’re currently leading them on.
• Recognize that your work schedule won’t always coincide with your subscribers’ email-reading habits. Explore sending campaigns over the weekend, when subscribers may have more leisure time to peruse their personal email accounts and non-urgent messages.
• Ask the following questions as you map your email touchpoints: Are you sending too many welcome messages early on, but too few retention emails? Are your communications steady throughout the journey, or do they appear randomly whenever you’re running a new campaign? How can the email customer journey become more one-to-one instead of one-to-many?
Catch up with your subscribers. Design responsively.
• Like the marketers surveyed, you likely saw a rise in the percentage of mobile email opens compared to desktop opens last year — possibly even a two-digit increase. Subscribers are voting for responsive design with every click, so if you’re not already designing an easily navigable experience on mobile, it’s high time.
• Don’t forget tablets. Just as you should be designing for various smartphone devices, the tablet environment is another critical area for responsive design improvement.
Breathe new life into email campaigns.
• Email has been around longer than social and mobile, but that doesn’t mean your campaigns have to be old-school. When it comes to email, many marketers aren’t trying new campaigns that rank extremely high in effectiveness, instead relying on old standbys. For example, newsletters are used most often but rank lower on overall effectiveness. Mobile opt-in campaigns are rated the most effective, but only 26% of marketers use them.
• Other email campaigns with low usage but high effectiveness ratings include abandoned cart (24% use; 93% rate as at least somewhat effective), browse retargeting (24% use; 93% rate as at least somewhat effective), and anniversary (26% use; 91% rate as at least somewhat effective). Some of these campaigns take extra effort to implement, but they may deliver your best email conversion rates.
• Try spring-cleaning your email. Send a reengagement campaign that invites subscribers to update their preferences and gain more control over the type and frequency of messages they’re receiving. Make it easy for seasonal subscribers who are interested only in your holiday deals to unsubscribe without resorting to the spam button.
2015 Recommendations: The Customer JourneyStep away from lifecycle marketing and personas.
• Lifecycle marketing looks at broad terms like need, awareness, consideration, selection, and purchase. A cohesive customer journey looks at the unique people interacting with your messages and profiles, personalizing the journey based on their actions and preferences.
• Personas can be useful when trying to imagine how common types of customers may respond to your marketing, but aim for a single view of each customer instead of thinking too broadly.
Evangelize the customer journey in your organization.
• Do your colleagues know that 86% of senior-level marketers say that it’s absolutely critical or very important to create a cohesive customer journey, and another 11% view the customer journey as moderately important?7 Stress the industry-wide importance of this approach to marketing in 2015.
• Host a customer journey-mapping brainstorm for coworkers with a whiteboard and an open mind. Invite team members from different sides of the organization—including sales, product, and services— to piece together a complete view of how customers interact with your brand.
• When mapping a customer journey, don’t tiptoe around poor experiences and gaps in the journey. Addressing issues and crafting better communications and technological solutions around them are the only ways to move forward.
Think about the customer journey beyond email.
• It’s easier to think about how the customer journey applies to email because it’s such a linear communication path: first this email, then that one. Try to incorporate multichannel elements in your customer journey mapping, testing new channels based on where your audience spends the most time online.
• Which social channels are most successful for your brand? Mix up the types of messages that appear on social channels so that customers in various stages of the journey receive content that’s relevant to them. Above all, always reply to individual customers’ messages on social media. At no point in your customers’ journeys do they wish to be ignored.
2015 State of Marketing 33
2015 Recommendations: MobileJoin the mobile majority.
• Consider 2015 “last call” to get started with mobile. With 58% of marketers now having a dedicated mobile marketing team, you’re in the minority if you aren’t headed in this direction.
• If you’re part of the 23% of marketers who aren’t tracking mobile analytics (or the 8% who don’t know), take steps to remedy that now. Mobile analytics will help you pinpoint exactly how mobile fits into your overall customer journey.
Integrate mobile and reap the benefits.
• All signs point to mobile integration being a boon for business. Marketers, B2B and B2C alike, report higher levels of effectiveness in other marketing channels and technologies when mobile is integrated.
• Marketers who have integrated mobile into their overall strategy are twice as likely to have dedicated digital teams by channel and have larger teams overall.
Educate your team — and the larger organization — on the importance of mobile.
• The first step in integrating mobile with your overall marketing strategy is to help your team and larger marketing department understand the huge impact on business. Start by sharing this report, or pull out a few key statistics to share in your next presentation. Once others see the data behind mobile integration, it becomes easier to get things moving.
• Figure out who your internal mobile experts are — or turn to a trusted vendor — to assess any barriers that may exist between mobile and your other channels. Bring your mobile team together with your social, email, and web team to take a holistic look at how your customers currently interact via mobile as part of the journey with your brand.
Explore loyalty and location-based campaigns.
• Mobile loyalty campaigns have the highest very effective/effective rating at 86%. They’re also the most common type of mobile campaign, with 37% of mobile marketers using them. And if you don’t yet have a loyalty program, developing one with a mobile-first mindset is a smart way to start.
• Don’t wait another few years to test out location-based content. With 67% of marketers planning to substantially or somewhat increase spending in this category in 2015, you risk falling behind if you don’t explore it.
• The consumer appetite for location-based content is there — you just need to discover how your business can respectfully and relevantly use customer locations to create a more cohesive journey in the real world as much as in the online world.
2015 State of Marketing 34
2015 Recommendations: SocialTest new social channels.
• Do your research on channels that might resonate best with your unique audience. For example, Tagged was ranked the most effective channel in our survey — even above big-name outlets like Facebook. Engage in some social listening to see if topics relevant to your brand or competitors are taking place on these lesser-known social networks.
• Consider using the chart on p. 28 as a guide to test new channels, keeping these marketer ratings and, of course, your audience in mind.
Get serious about social.
• Invest the resources — both headcount and budget — to support social as a viable channel, because it is. With 66% of marketers rating it as core to their business, it’s no longer the fringe marketing outlet it once was.
• As further proof, the jump in marketers who view social media marketing as a critical enabler for products or services (from 25% in 2014 to 64% in 2015) tells you that it’s working. If you’re not yet seeing significant business results from social, start small. What’s the one channel where your social audience is most responsive? Direct more resources to growing that space instead of spreading your efforts too thin.
Adopt a round-the-clock strategy.
• New data shows that consumers are most engaged on social media during weekends — which is when brands post the least frequently. Designate on-call social managers for every hour of the day, because customers interact on their own terms when it comes to social channels.
• True, you can schedule messages on Facebook and Twitter in advance — but you shouldn’t schedule ahead with no one available to reply. Messages posted to social channels should incite customer questions and engagement, and few things can frustrate customers more than a question that goes ignored, especially when the brand posted just moments earlier.
• Test what works for your own social audience. We recommend doing an internal benchmark study: track time of day and day of week social engagement for at least three months, then see when engagement was highest and lowest. Focus your social efforts around these findings.
2015 State of Marketing 35
ConclusionDigital marketing as we know it is fundamentally changing. Marketers and industry watchers previously viewed digital marketing as simply one category within marketing — one tool of many in a marketer’s kit. Increasingly, perception is shifting to a more holistic view in which all marketing is part of the digital world.
No matter which tactics, channels, and strategies you adopt in 2015, remember that every touchpoint is an opportunity to improve and influence the digitalcustomer journey.
2015 State of Marketing 36
Executive SummariesBy Country and Region
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in Australia.
85% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 31% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Australia
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=149*
N=125*
N=143*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Mobileapplications
Social mediaadvertising
Social medialistening
Social mediaengagement
67%
Social mediamarketing
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
7%
CRMtools
66%
Marketinganalytics
Budgetaryconstraints
New businessdevelopment
Building deep customer relationships
70% 70% 68% 68% 68%
57% 54% 54%
64% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
41% always/often use responsive designto build emails
40% report conversion rate as the most important email marketing metric
27% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
69% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
56% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
54% have a dedicated mobile marketingteam (a 33% increase from 2014)
40% rate mobile website or app tra�c asthe most important mobile marketing metric
57% believe social is a critical enabler of their products and services
55% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
52% have a dedicated socialmedia team
40% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
59% 56% 53%
2015 State of Marketing 38
2015 State of Marketing 39
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in Brazil.
96% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 40% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Brazil
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=384*
N=323*
N=354*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Contentmarketing
Datatargeting &
segmentation
Lead nurturing& scoring
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67%
Marketingautomation
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Marketinganalytics
7%
CRMtools
66%
Contentmanagement
Integration ofmarketing tools/systems
New businessdevelopment
Shifting consumer demographics
86% 85% 83% 82% 82%
57% 54% 54%
92% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
68% always/often use responsive design to build emails (a 31% increase from 2014)
49% of subscribers read emails on a mobile device more than half of the time
44% report conversion rate as the most important email marketing metric
93% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
53% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
44% have a dedicated mobile marketingteam (a 12% increase from 2014)
37% rate lead generation and conversionrate as the most important mobile metrics
88% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
62% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
53% have a dedicated social media team(a 21% increase from 2014)
38% rate audience engagement as the most important social media marketing metric
88% 85% 84%
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in Canada.
96% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 34% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Canada
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=188*
N=156*
N=173*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social mediaengagement
Videoadvertising
Social mediaadvertising
Mobile pushnotifications
67%
Mobileapplications
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
CRMtools
7%
Mobileapplications
66% Marketinganalytics
& contentmanagement
Keeping pace with the competitors
Customer acquisition (audience and/or list growth)
71% 70% 69% 69% 69%
57% 54% 54%
69% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
47% always/often use responsive designto build emails
41% report click-through rate as the most important email marketing metric
18% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
72% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
62% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
59% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
45% rate mobile website or app tra�c asthe most important mobile marketing metric
68% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
63% have a dedicated socialmedia team
52% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
52% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
72% 69% 66%
New businessdevelopment
2015 State of Marketing 40
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in France.
90% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 28% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: France
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=172*
N=127*
N=179*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Mobileapplications
Social mediamarketing
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67%
Social mediaadvertising
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
CRMtools
7%
Mobileapplications
66%
Marketinganalytics
Remaining up to date with current marketing technology
Integration of marketing Quality of leads
73% 73% 71% 71% 63%
57% 54% 54%
80% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
49% report click-through rate and conversion rate as the most important email metrics
32% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
31% always/often use responsive design to build emails
67% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
58% rate mobile website or app tra�c asthe most important mobile marketing metric
55% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
34% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
60% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
50% believe social is a critical enablerof their products and services
43% have a dedicated socialmedia team
42% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
Datatargeting &
segmentation
64% 61% 61%
2015 State of Marketing 41
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in Germany.
90% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 15% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Germany
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=91*
N=90*
N=133*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Videoadvertising
Leadnurturing &
scoring
Mobileapplications
Contentmarketing
67%
SEO/SEM
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
7%
Marketinganalytics
66%
CRMtools
Quality of leadsRemaining up-to-date with current marketing technology
Quantifying marketing's return on investment
56% 52% 52% 51% 49%
57%
65% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
52% rarely/never use responsive designto build emails
38% report click-through rate as the most important email marketing metric
36% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
44% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
39% rate revenue from mobile device transactions as the most important metric
34% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
28% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
47% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
42% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
32% say visitor frequency rate and audience growth rate are the most important metrics
31% have a dedicated social media team
61% 39% 37%
2015 State of Marketing 42
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in Japan.
81% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 20% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: Japan
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=46*
N=57*
N=78*
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social medialistening
Social mediamarketing
Social mediaengagement
SMSmessaging
67%
Social mediaadvertising
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
Marketinganalytics
CRMtools
Quality of leadsQuantifying marketing’s return on investment
Remaining up to date with current marketing technology
53% 52% 50% 46% 43%
54% 54%
63% report click-to-open rate as the most important email marketing metric
37% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
31% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
17% always/often use responsive designto build emails
46% rate overall brand awareness/preference as the most important mobile metric
40% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
40% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
25% have a dedicated mobile marketingteam (a 13% increase from 2014)
46% rate overall brand awareness/preference as the most important social media metric
45% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
43% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
33% have a dedicated social media team
26% 24%
Most Pressing Business Challenges
31%
2015 State of Marketing 43
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in the Nordics.
94% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 28% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: The Nordics
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=90*
N=55*
N=79*Most Pressing Business Challenges
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social mediaengagement
Social mediamarketing
Webpersonalization
Social mediaadvertising
67%
Videos
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Marketinganalytics
7%
Contentmanagement
66%
Mobileapplications
New business development
Customer acquisition
Demand and lead generation
67% 64% 61% 60% 60%
57% 54% 54%
52% report click-to-open rate as the most important email marketing metric
51% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
48% always/often use responsive designto design emails
34% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
49% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
45% rate mobile website or app tra�c as the most important mobile marketing metric
44% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
18% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
65% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
51% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
48% say visitor frequency rate and audience engagement are the most important metrics
43% have a dedicated social media team 60% 56% 53%
2015 State of Marketing 44
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in the United Kingdom.
88% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 24% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: United Kingdom
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=153*
N=104*
N=171*
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Marketingautomation
Contentmarketing
Social mediaadvertising
Social mediamarketing
67%
Datatargeting &
segmentation
66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
7%
CRMtools
66%
Contentmanagement
New business development
Quality of leads Customer acquisition (audience and/or list growth)
72% 60% 60% 60% 58%
57% 54%
74% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
49% report conversion rate as the most important email marketing metric
42% always/often use responsive designto build emails
30% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
46% of marketers believe mobile marketing is core to their business
45% have integrated mobile marketin into the overall marketing strategy
43% say conversion rate is the most important mobile marketing metric
17% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
79% of marketers use Twitter compared to 74% on Facebook to engage customers
54% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
52% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
42% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
55% 54% 48%
Most Pressing Business Challenges
2015 State of Marketing 45
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to marketers in the United States.
80% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 45% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: United States
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=1713*
N=1269*
N=1087*
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#1 #2 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social mediaadvertising
Social mediamarketing
Social mediaengagement
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67% 66%
Technologies Most Critical to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
Mobileapplications
7%
Marketinganalytics
66%
CRMtools
Using existing data to drive more relevant messages
New businessdevelopment
Customer acquisition (audience and/or list growth)
72% 71% 69% 69% 68%
57%
73% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
57% report click-through rate as the most important email marketing metric
53% always/often use responsive design to build emails (was 18% in 2014)
23% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
78% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
77% of marketers believe mobile marketingis core to their business
73% have a dedicated mobile marketingteam (a 38% increase from 2014)
46% rate mobile website or app tra�c as the most important mobile marketing metric
78% have a dedicated social media team(was 57% in 2014)
67% of marketers believe social media marketing is core to their business
70% believe social is a critical enabler oftheir products and services
45% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
Most Pressing Business Challenges
Webpersonalization
52% 51% 50%
2015 State of Marketing 46
Executive SummariesBy Business Type
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to B2B marketers.
84% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 34% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: B2B
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=1288*
N=868*
N=1259*
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#2#1 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Contentmarketing
Marketingautomation
Mobileapplications
Social mediaadvertising
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67% 66%
Most Critical Technologies to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
CRMtools
7%
Marketinganalytics
66%
Mobileapplications
Quality of leadsNew businessdevelopment Demand and lead generation
66% 66% 65% 65% 64%
57%
73% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
48% report click-through rate as the most important email marketing metric
48% always/often use responsive designto build email campaigns
27% don’t know what device subscribersare using to read emails
53% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
64% believe mobile marketing is coreto their business
43% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
40% rate mobile website or app tra�c as the most important mobile marketing metric
51% have a dedicated social media team
55% believe social is a critical enablerof their products and services
56% believe social media marketing iscore to their business
40% rate social media tra�c and audience engagement as the most important metrics
Most Pressing Business Challenges
51%57% 54% 52%
2015 State of Marketing 48
These statistics reflect the strategies, challenges, and priorities most important to B2C marketers.
84% of marketers plan to increase or maintain their spend in 2015. 42% of marketers plan to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to advertising on digital channels.
Executive Summary: B2C
SOCIAL
MOBILE
N=1698*
N=1438*
N=1138*
* Percentages represent data from the base ofrespondents who indicated that they use this channel.
#2#1 #3
Top 5 Areas for Increased Spending
Social mediamarketing
Social mediaadvertising
Social mediaengagement
Social medialistening
Location-basedmobile
tracking
67% 66%
Most Critical Technologies to Creating a Cohesive Customer Journey
CRMtools
7%
Marketinganalytics
66%
Mobileapplications
New business development
Remaining up to date with current marketing technology
Customer acquisition
74% 66% 65% 68% 68%
57%
73% of marketers believe email marketingis core to their business
46% report click-through rate and conversion rate as the most important email metrics
49% always/often use responsive design to build email campaigns
20% of marketers don’t know what device subscribers are using to read emails
77% have integrated mobile marketing into the overall marketing strategy
76% believe mobile marketing is coreto their business
68% have a dedicated mobilemarketing team
45% rate mobile website or app tra�c as the most important mobile marketing metric
74% believe social media marketing iscore to their business
76% have a dedicated socialmedia team
70% believe social is a critical enablerof their products and services
43% rate social media tra�c as the most important social marketing metric
Most Pressing Business Challenges
51%59% 54% 51%
74% 73%
2015 State of Marketing 49
Survey Methodology and Demographics
2015 State of Marketing 51
The 2015 State of Marketing survey was conducted online from October 28, 2014, to November 25, 2014. The survey was sent to full-time marketers in Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s locations around the world. A total of 5,053 marketers completed the survey, representing an 82% participation rate from those who started it. The survey took 17 minutes, 26 seconds, on average, to complete. Due to rounding, not all percentage totals in this report equal 100%.
The following charts display the demographics of marketers who completed the survey.
Survey Methodology and Demographics
Country
Region
United States3,002
Canada250
Brazil430
France253
Germany251
Japan251
United Kingdom250
The Nordics114
Australia252
Australia 4.99%
Brazil 8.51%
Canada 4.95%
France 5.01%
Germany 4.97%
Japan 4.97%
United Kingdom 4.95%
United States 59.41%
Nordics 2.26%(Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark)
North America (US, Canada) 64%
South America (Brazil) 9%
APAC (Australia, Japan) 10%
EMEA (UK, Nordics, Germany, France) 17%
Survey Methodology and Demographics
Business-to-Business (B2B) 44%
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) 56%
Company Type
Company Size
Industry
Role
Time in Role
Small: 1-200 Employees 39%Mid-Sized: 201-2,500 Employees 50%
Enterprise: 2,500+ Employees 11%
Technology & Manufacturing 15%
Insurance 9%
Advertising & Marketing Agency 9%
Professional Services 7%
Life Sciences 7%
Financial Services 6%
Education & Non-Profit 5%
Construction 5%
Telecommunications & Utilities 4%
Retail & E-Commerce 4%
Healthcare 4%
Media & Entertainment 3%
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) 3%
Travel & Hospitality 2%
Other 17%
Owner or Equivalent 10%
Chief Marketing O�cer 8%
Vice President 5%
Director or Equivalent 13%
Manager or Equivalent 28%
Self-Employed or Consultant 5%
Coordinator 7%
Analyst 6%
Developer 6%
Associate 4%
Designer 5%
Other 2%
Less than 1 Year 3%
1-2 Years 11%
3-5 Years 39%
6-10 Years 26%
11-15 Years 9%
More than 15 Years 12%
2015 State of Marketing 52